Gov. Eliot Spitzer would like to close Indian Point, provided other energy sources can meet demand. The Indian Point Energy Center has long been fodder for controversy in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley. The three-unit nuclear plant provides energy for nearly two million homes and sits on the Hudson River, surrounded by hundreds of communities. For decades, various environmental and safety groups have called for the closure of the facility, citing security and environmental concerns.

Indian Point has a storied legacy, and it has gotten more complicated in recent weeks. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Indian Point’s application for re-licensing on July 26. The moves sets in motion a lengthy process of public forums and debate as residents, politicians and advocacy groups fight with Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the operator of Indian Point, over the future of the plant.

Entergy hopes to extend its operating licenses for 35 more years, while some hope to thwart the operators and allow the licenses to expire in 2013 (for Indian Point’s #2 reactor) and 2015 (for Indian Point’s #3 reactor). The review of the re-licensing application will take as long as 35 months.

Robert Kennedy Jr., an NYLCV Honorary Board Member and founder of the advocacy group Riverkeeper, has been a long opponent of Indian Point, and has fought long and hard to shut down the nuclear facility. Riverkeeper has previously sued the operators of Indian Point for leaks of materials that have contaminated surrounding areas.

But it is not only environmental groups that are voicing their concerns. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano and U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey have called to shut down Indian Point, and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed of a legal brief to contest the plant's re-licensing. Cuomo contends that Indian Point is a possible terrorist target that, if attacked, could spell disaster for communities in Westchester and Hudson Valley, as well as for New York City, 24 miles downriver. And on July 25, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his support for closing Indian Point, as long as the state was able to match power output at Indian Point with energy from other facilities.

As the review process continues, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has already brought up major concerns. It recently ordered Entergy to examine a container holding radioactive Uranium 235, to verify that the plant operators had accounted for all radioactive materials under their watch. Indian Point has also had a multitude of issues with its siren system, intended to warn surrounding neighborhoods of problems with the nuclear reactor. The original system failed many times previously, causing Entergy to invest money in bringing a new system online, which it hopes to bring online by Aug. 24.

However, the constant testing (and occasional failures) has put residents on edge. Some fear that hearing the siren so often will cause them to not realize whether the siren has been set off because of a real emergency. These and plenty more are the concerns about Indian Point that will be addressed in the coming months.

Newsletter Issue

• Ecopolitics Monthly --- August 2007